Process of feeding materials to digesters.



G. H. TOMLINSON. PROCESS OF FEEDING MATERIALS T0 DIGBSTERS. APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 12, 1910.

1,032,441, Patnted July 16, 1912.

TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' GEORGE H. TOMIlINSO1 \T, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGN'OR IO STANDARD ALCOHOL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

erence to a' me PRocEss 0E FEEDING MATERIALS T0 DIGEsTEas.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 12, 1910. Serial No. 592,022.

To all whom, it mag concern:

. Be it known that I, GEORGE H. TOMLIN:

soN, a subject of the King of England, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Process of Feeding Materials to Digesters, of which the following is a specification.-

My invention relates to the treatment'of comminuted ligno-cellulose for the purpose "of producing sugar.

sure, to the action of a limited amount of,

acid. It is this operation in the digester which appears to convert a certain amount of the material into sugar. In these processes, a great deal of difliculty has been found in connection with the effort to properly mix the acids with the sawdust, for sawdust tends to interruptthe flow of liquid through its mass, and there is a large amount of sawdust compared with the amount of liquid to be used. At any rate, this is true in thepreferred process of treatment for the production of sugar.

My particular process, therefore, has refthod of practically applying a limited quantity of acid-carrying liquid to a relatively large amount of sawdust in such -manner as to eifect a thorough mixture or application of the liquid to the sawdust.

My method consists in spraying such acid fluid into a free moving stream-of such saw-- dust. The acid is preferably discharged into the midst of such stream while it is loosely falling, by gravity, into the open digester.-

considerable distance .above the same. I

then place at one side, the acid receptacle,

and lead thence a pipe which terminates in a downwardly opening spray nozzle, placed in Patented July 16,1912.

the middle of the passage-way from the bin to the digester. I now preferably place in the bin a measured quantity of sawdust, and in the acid receptacle a measured quantity of acid. I may, however, substitute means for regulating theflow ofboth and correlating them, so that when the digester has received 1ts proper charge of sawdust there will have been discharged into the sawdust the proper amount of acid-carrying fluid. The difiiculty of effecting the operation will be apparentwhen I say that I may use as little as from 20 to 40 pounds of acid-carrying fluid to aton of sawdust. Either the saw:

. dust or the fluid, or both, may be discharged under more or less pressure or by gravity,

and through any desired form or'forms of discharging orifices, and either in any desired directions, though from practical experience I prefer what has been above specifically set out.

Itis no part of my present invention to indicate what-acids are used or in what shape they are used. It is suflicient for the purposes of this invention to point out that sulfuric acid or sulfurous acid gas may be used, or indeed any hydrolizing agent or gas, although a'good'illustration of the invention is a method wherein sulfuric chamber acid is employed. An important feature of my invention is the introduction ofthe acid into the stream as it flows into the digester. This, of course, minimizes the amount of handling of the materials required and applies the acid atjust the moment when it is desired. Suitable means for carrying the process into effect are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein the figure is a view in elevation of the acid-supplying means, with adjacent portions of the charging hopper or bin, and the digester, parts being broken away.

In said drawing 1 represents the hopperbottom of the bin containing the sawdust, and 2 a controlling slide therefor. i

3 is a digester, having a charging aperture 4 which may be hermetically closed.

5 is a receptacle for the hydrolyzing agent, and 6- a discharge pipe therefor, controlled by a valve 7, and terminating in a spray nozzle 8, in position to discharge the hydr'olyzing agent into the freely-falling;

stream 9' of sawdust.

V the purpose I claim A 1. The process of mixing commirruted ligno-cellulose with acid-carrying fluid, for the purpose of producing ztermentable, sugar, which consists in discharging the ligno-cellulose in a loose free stream and simultaneously discharging into said stream a spray of acid-carrying fluid. 4

2. The process of mixing comminuted ligno-cellulose with acid-carrying fluid for the purpose of producing fermentable sugar, which consists in discharging a measured quantity of the ligno-cellu'lose in a loose freestream and simultaneously discharging into said stream a measured quantity of acid-carrying fluid. I

3.'The process of mixing" comminuted ligno-cellulose with acid-carrying fluid for of producing fermentable sugar, which consists in discharging the ligno-cellulose in a loose free stream, by gravity, and simultaneously discharging into said stream a spray of acid-carrying fluid. I

4. The process of. mixing comminuted v ligno-cellulose with acid-carrying fluid for the purpose of producing fermentable sugar, which consists in discharging a,

measured quantity of the ligno-cellulose in a loose free stream, by gravity, and simul-' Tafi'e'ously discharging into said stream a measured quantity 0t acid-carrying fluid.

5. The process of mixing a relatively large amount of comminuted ligno-cellulose with a relatively small amount of acidcariying fluid so as to secure 'an intimate mixture for the purpose of producing fermentable sugar, which consists in discharging the ligno-cellulose in a loose free stream of considerable volume and simultaneously discharging into said stream a relatively minute spray of acid-carrying fluid. v 6. The process of mixing comminuted ligno-cellulose "with acid-carrying fluids preparatory to its treatment in a digester for the production of sugar, which consists in discharging a loose free stream of ligno cellulose into the digester and discharging a spray of such acid-carrying fluid into the stream of'comminuted ligno-cellulose as it moves along. y

. 7.. The process of a mixing comminuted ligno-cellulose or other cellulosic raw material with a hydrolyzing agent preparatory to its treatment for the production of sugar, which consists in absorbing the hydrolyzing agent by a loose free stream of the material to'be converted.

Witnesses:

Ems'r S.;BALL, A. 0. IVENTZ.

GEOBGEH. TOMLINSON. 

